Choosing between stairs and escalators in China: The impact of location, height and pedestrian volume

•Choosing a stairway over an escalator to the same destination is conditioned by several environmental factors.•Distance between the stairway and nearest escalator accounts for 34% of the variance in stairway choice.•Height between floors and pedestrian volume are also negatively related to stairway choice.•The results of this Beijing-based study are similar to those in the previous study in Montreal.

ObjectiveThis research examines whether Beijing residents are more or less likely than Montréal residents to avoid stair climbing, by replicating a study in Montréal, Canada that measured the impacts of distance between stairs and escalator, height between floors and pedestrian volume on stair climbing rate.Method15 stairways, 14 up-escalators and 13 down-escalators were selected in 13 publicly accessible settings in Beijing. Distance between the bottom or top of nearest stair and escalator combinations varied from 2.1 m to 114.1 m with height between floors varying from 3.3 m to 21.7 m. Simultaneous counts were conducted on stair and escalator pairs, for a total of 37,081 counted individuals.ResultsIn the ascent model, pedestrian volume accounted for 16.3% of variance in stair climbing, 16.4% when height was added and 45.1% when distance was added. In the descent model, 40.9% of variance was explained by pedestrian volume, 41.5% when height was added and 45.5% when distance was added.ConclusionSeparating stairs and escalator is effective in increasing stair climbing in Beijing, accounting for 29% of the variance in stair climbing, compared with 43% in Montreal. As in the Montreal case, distance has less effect on stair use rate when descending. Overall, 25.4% of Beijingers opted for stairs when ascending compared with 20.3% of Montrealers, and for descending 32.8% and 31.1% respectively.